The Phil-Asian Gaming Expo features companies targetting bettors outside the Philippines. Games can be played on desktop or mobile devices. Photos taken at the SMX Convention Center. July 12, 2019. Jessica Fenol, ABS-CBN News
MANILA – The offshore gaming industry could benefit not just the property sector but the economy by attracting more foreign capital to the country, the CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants said Monday.
The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) might even overtake the IT-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry this year in terms of office take up, Leechiu Property Consultants co-founder and CEO David Leechiu told ANC.
“I welcome that from my perspective from the property sector because they benefit so many things on the economy. If not for POGO industry, the property market would have collapsed,” Leechiu said.
“Because of the POGO industry you’ve got office rents climbing to record highs and because of that the investor sentiments to residential, retail space has been dramatic,” he added.
The influx of Chinese workers, which has caused worry for some, has a “trade off,” Leechiu said.
“There’s a trade off and that is foreign capital is going to generate millions of jobs for Filipinos… The construction industry is in total boom and if you go down the supply chain everybody is benefiting so you have to quantify that. ' he said.
"We need to allow foreign capital to come into the country so that we can develop this country faster and bring millions of Filipinos out of poverty in the shorter possible time,” he added.
Agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Labor and Employment have vowed to impose stricter rules to ensure taxes are paid and that foreign nationals have permits to work in the country.
Gaming firm Oriental earlier said developing POGO hubs, where operators and satellite offices of government agencies will be located, would help make regulating the industry “easier” both for companies and the government alike.
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